Arca
Van Jensen, writer; Jesse Lonergan, interior & cover artist
IDW Publishing, 2023
Arca is a dystopian science fiction graphic novel. The planet is dying, but the rich have an escape plan. They board a starship called the Arca and head for the nearest Earth-like planet, which they call Eden. The ship has hundreds of passengers, who are divided into three key groups. Citizens are those who planned and funded the ship before the Earth became uninhabitable. They reside in the upper levels and enjoy the same kind of luxurious lifestyle they had before boarding the Arca. Helpers are armed security personnel who maintain order; they are loyal to the Citizens. Settlers are children and teenagers who maintain the ship's infrastructure and serve the Citizens as personal assistants. At age 18 they graduate and retire from their chores.
So, it is a highly structured society, reminiscent of feudal times (it also called the world of Snowpiercer to mind). The central character is Effie, a Settler who is about to graduate. She is unusually bright: so much so that the Citizen she assists has taught her how to read, a skill the Settlers are not supposed to possess. This is an early red flag that life on the Arca may not be what it seems. Sure enough, Effie's curiosity takes her to places that make the Arca elite uncomfortable. It all begins with her accidental discovery of human remains in the garden, which makes her question the whole relationship between Settlers and Citizens: why has no one ever met a Settler who graduated to Citizen status?
It all comes to a head when Effie and her friends trick Arca's founder into admitting the truth about how the Settlers are being used: on camera for the entire ship to see. The armed Helpers refuse to follow his orders, leading to chaos and revolt. Effie finally learns the real truth about the Arca and how life on Earth was doomed. It came as a complete surprise to me, although the big reveal (as well as the class structure in the story) did remind me of Justin Cronin's recent novel The Ferryman. I was trying to remember why it seemed familiar! If the two stories hadn't been created at about the same time I might have suspected mutual influence in one or both authors. Jesse Lonergan's sketchy art style did not appeal to me, but his storytelling was dynamic: I especially liked his creative use of panel structure. He is not afraid to crowd a page with multiple small, irregularly arranged panels, nor to use a full-page splash when necessary.
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